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Super, Neighbours in British Columbia: The Social Venture Institute at Hollyhock (3 of 3) - The People

In THIS first post about my trip to the Social Venture Institute at Hollyhock on Cortes Island I kicked things off on a slightly heavy tip with the details of my rare eye disease ( Central Serous Retinopathy ) and how we got to where we're at with th

In THIS second post I took you on a bit of a tour of Hollyhock itself and got all metaphorical about the SVI conference and how it changed my life and introduced me to a network of peers also doing positive work. Be it socially or environmentally focussed business leaders, all of us mission-based entrepreneurs are wearing similar shoes and working towards a greater good.

Okay, you can tell by this photo taken outside of the lodge that we all wear very different shoes, but we're still all connected.

In THIS first post about my trip to the Social Venture Institute at Hollyhock on Cortes Island I kicked things off on a slightly heavy tip with the details of my rare eye disease (Central Serous Retinopathy) and how we got to where we're at with the regular travel/resort features in this Super, Neighbours series. I then proceeded to take you on a journey with me in my car onto 3 separate ferries, landing 6 hours later on the heavenly little island called Cortes, where Hollyhock is.

Hollyhock shoes SVI

I could write at length about each of the wonderful people that I made a connection with during my 5 days on Cortes Island but instead I'll simply introduce them and their businesses quickly and encourage you to click their links and see what they're up to. Some you may have heard of before, some are on their way up, and all of these people below are folks I had never met before but are now members of my personal network. The conference itself is an incredible experience but it really is the connections made that put it over the top. These 44 people actually only represent about one quarter of the people who attended, they are simply the ones that I had the opportunity to jam with...

Deliveries made via zero-emissions, heavy-duty cargo trikes.

ShiftDelivery.ca

Shift Urban Cargo Delivery Graham Anderson and Kevin Cooper from Shift Urban Cargo Delivery.

Secure and responsible disposal of branded goods or materials.

DeBrand.ca

debrand Wes Baker and Amelia Ufford from DeBrand.

Delicious food cooked by a celebrity chef, delivered direct to your door.

Wholesome2Go.com

Wholesome2go James Barry from Wholesome2Go.

Teaching the wonder, spirit and worth of people and the natural world.

Strathcona.bc.ca

Myrna Boulding from Strathcona Park Lodge.

Clothing designer doing what is right for the Earth, its People and Spirit.

NicoleBridger.com

Nicole Bridger.

Building hope (playgrounds!) from the ground-up in war-torn areas.

PlaygroundBuilders.org

Kirby Brown from Playground Builders.

Invitation-only gathering of change agents, catalysts and movement builders.

SCIHollyhock.org

Stina Brown from the Social Change Institute.

Partner and catalyst for people and organizations seeking meaningful change.

DeenaChochinov.com

Deena Chochinov.

Help children, youth and families facing social, emotional and mental health challenges.

KidsLinkCares.com

Kevin Clouthier and Sonia Pouyat from KidsLink.

Invests in change by supporting businesses at the forefront of social and environmental innovation.

Renewal2.ca

Carlo Culos from Renewal2.

Office supplies company which gives 75% of their net proceeds to charity.

GiveSomethingBack.com

Give Something Back Office Supplies Michael Hannigan from Give Something Back.

Real estate development and property management company committed to building community.

CenturyGroup.ca

Sean Hodgins from Century Group.

Easy, no-fail methods for growing your own food at home and in your neighbourhood.

LetsPatch.com

Kent Houston from Patch.

World’s first green carnival, powered by vegetable oil, wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy.

Sustainival.com

sustainival Joey Hundert from Sustainival.

Grow and distributes locally produced food to low-income individuals and families on the North Shore.

EdibleGardenProject.com

Emily Jubenvill from the Edible Garden Project.

Entrepreneurs developing entrepreneurs. They think business should create societal value first, then profits.

InstituteB.com

Darrell Kopke from Institute B.

Creative services.

EstellaLum.com

Estella Lum.

Innovative business strategies for leading-edge technology products.

IllumeConsulting.com

Michele Macready from Illume Consulting.

Unleashes the positive potential of youth through arts-centered learning programs.

PowerOfHope.org

Melanie Matining from Power Of Hope.

Organic fair trade coffee since 1996.

SaltSpringCoffee.com

Mickey Mcleod from Salt Spring Coffee.

A voice for silviculture practitioners in Canada and abroad.

SilviCultureMagazine.com

Kate Menzies from Silviculture Magazine.

A non-profit society whose goal is to make cycling an attractive choice for everyone.

VACC.bc.ca

Erin O'Melinn from Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition.

A development and project leadership team dedicated to Change Agents and Impact Investors worldwide.

GreenlightProjects.ca

Jeff O'Reilly from Greenlight Projects.

A cultural hub where digital art, culture, food and social inclusion intersect. .

CreativeTechnology.org

Lianne Payne from W2 Media Cafe.

Aligning high-performance organizations for social impact.

Momentum-Consulting.net

Matthew Quetton from Momentum Consulting.

Reforestation company that enhances the forest resource and the forest environment around the globe.

Brinkman.ca

Chris Reid from Brinkman.

Interactive design and communication agency working with social ventures, culture creators and non-profits that help make the world a better place.

Briteweb.com

Steve Rio from Briteweb.

Digital strategies for social good.

OpenDirections.com

Christopher Roy from Open Directions.

Facilitating creative collaboration in Vancouver since 2004.

Vancouver.DesignNerds.org

Eesmyal Santos-Brault from the Vancouver Design Nerds.

An unpretentious fling with fine dining.

Chambar.com

Karri Schuermans from Chambar.

Socially progressive contract cleaning company that provides high quality, professional services.

CleaningSolution.ca

Shaugn Schwartz from The Cleaning Solution.

Smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable pads and tampons.

LunaPads.com

Madelanie Shaw from Lunapads.

Transforming private living spaces into public cultural spaces.

InTheHouseFestival.com

Mryriam Steinberg from In The House Festival.

Sustainable promo products for your business.

Fairware.ca

Denise Taschereau and Sarah White from Fairware.

Vancouver based startup accelerator.

Growlab.ca

Michael Tippett from Growlab.

Young thinkers in advertising.

MyLoudSpeaker.ca

Tammy Tsang from My Loud Speaker.

Social enterprise strategist.

AaronVidas.com

Aaron Vidas.

Social enterprise strategist.

DOXAfestival.ca

Lauren Weisler from DOXA.

Sustainability, value, function - and a whole lot of style. Newborn to Six.

HipBaby.com

Michael and Ibi Ziff from Hip Baby.

And of course I won't forgot to give shoutouts to a few people who were at SVI whom I had already been acquainted with prior to my adventure. Dana Bass Solomon who is the CEO of Hollyhock and her husband Joel Solomon of Tides Canada and Renewal2. Heidi Hartman of Hollyhock. Martha Rans, a lawyer who we recently worked with (and will work with again). Scott Hawthorn of Native Shoes, Carrie Russell of HVS, Seth Klein with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Lorien Henson from Limelight Events.

In conclusion I'll say that I look forward to many more trips to Hollyhock in the future, and to connecting with countless more likeminded folks along the way.